Elena Baltacha(30),former British tennis number one dies of liver Cancer

 Friends and family gathered today to say their final goodbyes to tennis player Elena Baltacha, who died from liver cancer aged 30

Elena Baltacha, 30, battled a chronic liver condition since she was 19 

Despite the disease, she won 11 single titles, with her best Grand Slam finish coming in the third round of Wimbledon in 2002.

She also reached the third stage of the Australian Open in 2005 and 2010. Her highest singles world ranking was 49, which she reached in September 2010.

More than 300 family and friends - including Judy Murray and Tim Henman - gathered at a private ceremony in Ipswich, Suffolk, dressed in their brightest colours, as a final tribute to the 'incredible, inspiring' woman. 

Miss Baltacha(30) known as Bally, died just two months after revealing she had been diagnosed with liver cancer and just six months after marrying her coach, Nino Severino(48).The Ukraine-born tennis player, who later moved to Scotland, married her husband, her former coach, in December, one month after retiring from tennis due to ill health

The hearse which brought Miss Baltacha's coffin to the church carried floral tributes which spelled out her nickname 'BALLY X'.

There was also a lone piper in the churchyard at St John's Church to mark Miss Baltacha's links to Scotland.

Eleanor Preston, Miss Baltacha's manager and trustee of the charity attached to the Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis, said after the funeral: 'She was an incredibly inspiring person